A Naruto Robin Hood
by vanna6yaoiheaven
Summary: In the kingdom of Konoha Naruto a prince is born but he is switched as a baby with a nobleman daughter to marry into the Uchiha line and is thrown into a river and now lives in the woods stealing from the rich-Set in the old english time kings and queens
1. 1 The birth of Naruto

Hello there my people, yes, another story from MOI!!! This one I've had in my head for Donkey's years! I just perfected it a little bit before posting the first chapter. ^ ^. Okay, if you feel like it, you _could_ say it has a sort of Robin Hood theme to it… but please don't get Robin Hood stuck in your head!!! FOR THE LOVE OF GOD THIS IS A SASUNARU so you will soon be reading the juicy stuff before you die of old age.^ ^.

It _is_ set in a sort of `_olden days English kings and queens era_` sort of thing with swords and bows and arrows. Yeah, a childish way of explaining it, but that way every body understands it and nobody gets confused, unless I'm ranting on like I'm doing now ¬¬.

Also, as some of you might know, my stories take a while to get to the juicy parts, maybe a few chapters because I like to get the whole story line in to explain why Naruto is being fucking rammed into the soft silk bed sheets by a horny Sasuke who kisses and touches his entire body… oops I'm getting carried away again o0'. *shutting up* *whispers* -_So please try not to get bored and just enjoy the story line_-

**WARNING**; *Takes deep breath* THIS IS A YAOI SO IF YOU _**DON'T **_LIKE **BOYS LOVE **OR **BOYS FUCKING EACH OTHER **THEN _**PLEASE DO NOT READ THIS**_ FOR THE LOVE OF *****!!! Because I really only want people who will enjoy this kind of story to read it ^ ^ So please let my big bold capital italic lettering get through to your brains if you don't like Yaoi.^ ^.

**DISCLAIMER**; Okay, I **don't** own Naruto or any of the cast/crew but the story line is mine as far as I'm sure.

_**Please, if any one thinks I've stolen their idea, I've heard enough of that on other sites, it just pisses me off.**_

But if you want to say some thing like `Oh I had that idea too! Great minds think alike` or some thing _sweet _like that then please do, just don't leave any nasty comments or rants, because I might just read them in my spare time when I'm bloody bored out of my fucking mind

For the rest of my pretties- you'll have to excuse the amount of swearing I'm throwing out this time- … _**ENJOY XDDDD**_

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It was a storm, thunder and lightening blended together in a fusion of light and sound. She screamed, clenching his hands tightly until they turned purple. The doctors and nurses hushing her, trying to calm her down to give an easy birth.

The king let out a whimper and was finally brought down to his knees by the pressure his wife was emitting on his poor fingers; "Ah-haa! Kushina d-darling… I think… you could let go _just a little_… AH!"

Minato gave in, desperately attempting to pry his wife's hands from their tight grasp. She growled, sitting forward in an attempt to push; "OoooH! Minato I already loosened up- KYAAAAH!!!"

Minato continued to lower closer and closer to the floor under Kushina's crippling clench.

Eventually, Kushina screamed and pushed her final push, Minato screaming to some point since his fingers were practically being crushed off. The nurse grabbed the baby as it slipped out and instantly wrapped it up in a towel, carrying it away for a moment to clean it up. Kushina panted and huffed, pale and in a cold sweat as Minato smiled warmly at her, caressing the side of her face; "It's alright honey, the baby's out…"She thumped her head back and said in an exhausted tone; "What a relief…"

Her blonde spouse's lips twitched as he cracked a smile and agreed; "Yeah… a _big_ relief…"His wife lifted her head; "Can I see my baby?"

The nurse carried the baby over, smiling gently as she passed it to her; "Well done and congratulations your majesty!"

Kushina rocked it in her arms, she couldn't take her eyes off of her baby; "Do we know what gender it is?"Tsunade, the doctor came forward, examining the baby; "I apologise your highness, but since our gynaecologist is unattainable at the moment, we are not too sure what gender the baby is. We'll be able to tell you in the mourning, for now I highly suggest that you take some rest and we'll see if your condition gets any better…"

The doctor and nurses nodded and took their leave, allowing the king and queen some time alone together with their new born.

Minato asked; "So what do you wish to call him?"Kushina stated; "You heard what the doctors said Minato, they don't know if it's a boy or a girl…"Minato shrugged; "Weeeell, say for example if it is a boy, or even a girl, what would you call it?"

Kushina thought for a minute; "Well, I would call him… Naruto…. what would you call him?"Minato grinned; "I think I'd also call him… if he were a boy… Naruto."His wife looked at him sweetly when he continued to speak; "Ah-ha… well, what would you like to call it darling? If it were a girl?"Kushina pouted; "How come you get to choose the boy names? Oh well, if it were a girl… oh I don't know…"

Later that mourning, Tsunade gave Minato some horrible news; "Your majesty, we're sorry to say this… but… our queen won't make it. She's just not strong enough, especially after the baby. Her condition has worsened and the medicine we had given her doesn't seem to make her get any better… we don't know if the baby is of a fit condition either, so I have the best doctors working on your child…"

Minato was heart broken; "How long does she have left…?"

Tsunade glanced at the floor; "Less than a day, she'll pass away after mid-day at best…"Just then, Minato could feel his heart aching. He loved Kushina so much, she was his wife, his best friend… a mother to his child. His child was going to grow up without a mother, and his kingdom without a queen. This was the worst ever.

Kushina had been growing ill before his child was born, and he gave a brief thought of what was in the medicine, when Tsunade spoke; "Might I suggest you spend as much time with her as possible… it breaks the lands' heart to know their queen will no longer sit at our king's side. Might I ask when we should state when she's died to the land?"

Minato strode past her, his long red velvet cape wafting in a sort of dull way as he said heartlessly; "Stop speaking so far a head if you wish to keep your head doctor Tsunade…"

Tsunade watched sadly as her usually happy king walked gloomily down the long, dark corridor. She then stared darkly at the doctor walking out side who had purposely promised the medicine he's given the queen was genuinely going to make her better.

The doctor was none other than doctor Danzo, an overly suspicious character who wandered aimlessly- or so it seemed- around the castle grounds constantly. Just a few hours ago, Tsunade had caught him hovering around the new-bourns room and scared him off with her stare. She decided she didn't want to ignore this creep any longer and unfolded her arms, heading out to the garden where Danzo was staring at the poison berries.

Minato smiled warmly at his wife; "Hello darling…"

She looked up at him weakly, smiling back; "Hello…"

He sat down on her bed, taking her hand. She still had a cold sweat and looked awfully pale and grey. He bit his lip, they hadn't told her yet had they? When she started to cling to his hand and cry, he knew that they had. He hugged her tightly, kissing her over and over again. She sniffed; "Oh Minato, my child will not have a mother…. What kind of mother lets her child grow up without her?! My child will never know me… they won't know me…"

Minato hugged her even tighter; "Oh don't cry, I won't let them forget about you. I'll tell our child stories about you, how beautiful you are, how smart you are."

Just then, he picked her up in his arms and she asked, blushing madly; "Minato! What are you doing?!"He waltzed out of the room and carried her out to their special place in the gardens; "I will not have my queen miss her favourite Sakura trees blooming no matter what deathly illness she may harbour…"As non-romantic as it sounds, Minato meant it in the most heart felt, romantic way possible. Kushina relaxed into her husbands strong arms and muttered softly; "…Minato…thank you…"

As he strode around the gardens with Kushina safely in his arms, they watched the Sakura trees bloom and petals float in the breeze. They even had their new born brought out with them as they sat and viewed the gardens beautiful wonders and beauty.

Later that evening, Minato sat hunched over his queens lifeless body. She was grey and pale, cold to the touch as Minato clenched her pulse-less, fragile hand. Tsunade stood with her head down along with all the nurses in the room and she said as softly as she could; "King Minato… I'm so sorry…"

Suddenly, he stood up and stormed out of the room. Tsunade followed and could not do more than stand with her back against the wall out side of Minato's bed room as he destroyed anything he got his hands on. Throwing vases and smashing wooden objects, anything in his way was in pieces. Tsunade tried his best to blank out the heart retching screams and sobs of her king who was once classed as `the sun` of his kingdom, but his heart was broken into many pieces at the loss of his queen.

Later that night, Minato locked himself in his room and would not let anything enter, not even any one who had food which worried Tsunade because he loved his food, even when his dog died. But then she remembered, that Kushina was there to help him through his loss.

She then remembered that if Minato was going to be in this state for more than tonight, he wouldn't be able to attend the agreement.

The thing was, Minato's kingdom had agreed to have their first born have an arranged marriage with their second born- due to their first born practically being already in ling for the throne- so that they could rule Minato's kingdom when he grew old. This whole agreement was to stop the Uchiha kingdom battles with Konoha, Minato's kingdom. The Uchiha had given birth to a second son.

Tsunade decided to attend the hearing, she was the doctor of Minato's first born, she would also have to spill the information about Kushina's death. Not to mention she would have to call in that gynaecologist straight away. Tsunade was fairly old, and had been Minato's nanny/nurse and his `young` grandmother for all her life. She was practically a second mother to him since he had to take over the throne at a very young age of fifteen when the previous king and queen had died fighting in one of the great battle between the kingdoms. Even though some people saw her as merely the palace doctor, she was much more than that and had so many more rights than any bishop or nobleman that Minato could ever grant them.

That night, Tsunade looked over the baby in its specially designed crib made out of white silver birch with silver carvings of gooseberries plated on the head board. She took a special necklace she had out of a small silk cloth and smiled gently as she placed it around the baby's along with a silver bracelet around its wrist; "Oh, you look so much like your father… but you look like you'll have your mothers nose there sweetheart…"

She tapped the sleeping child's nose, which made the small, barely blonde baby nuzzle into her finger. She sniffed, wiping her eye to stop a tear from coming out; "You should have seen the way your mother looked at you. She loves you so much, and even though she's gone… she'll always be with you. See this necklace here? I gave it to her for her wedding gift. It's a royal family heirloom… She was so young and so beautiful… you'll see portraits of her around the castle when you're older. When she died, one of her last wished was that you'd get this…"

She looked down at the baby's face, noticing three small lines each on either of its cheeks as she stroked them; "What an unusual little face you have… it must have been that damn rookie nurse wiping your face too hard… either that or birth marks… I believe Minato's father had similar ones… although his were covered by a big bushy beard."

The blonde, large busted woman curled a little bit of what little hair the baby had; "You know what? I think you're a boy… I'm certain. But Danzo insisted we wait until the other doctor gets here… he's fairly trained in that area too… yet he was acting strangely… Oh well."

Tsunade eventually stopped speaking and telling stories, kissing the child on the forehead goodnight and exiting the room, blowing out the candles on her way out; "Good night… Naruto…"She'd over heard what Minato had wanted to call their child if it was a boy and so dubbed the child so. She even managed to get a hold of the carved bracelet that Minato sent for just in case it was a boy with the name Naruto on it.

When she was gone, Danzo slipped in the room, staring down disgustedly at the baby. He opened up the window and coaxed some one up the rope he threw down. He took the other new born from his minion's hands and roughly tossed the royal baby to him instead; "Take care of him. I don't want any evidence of him left any where, not a trace got it? We have to have nobleman blood join the royal family, or else we will constantly be under handed and undermined by the royals."- He'd discovered that their first born was a boy, and so his plan would slot in very easily-; "I'll use my own baby girl to do this so that the blood line is at least pure…"Danzo was some what of an ex-nobleman, who had then decided to be a doctor. Killing Kushina was only revenge for Minato ignoring his every word and- in short- firing him. But he had changed his looks since then and managed to become Kushina's doctor.

He placed his baby girl gently in the cot then turned to the minion still hovering around behind him; "What are you waiting for?! Throw it in the North West river already. That should carry him out into the lake where nobody will ever find him if this gets turned over. Which I highly doubt, since nobody knows any thing about the baby for sure yet… Go-go!!! Shoo-shoo!!!"

The minion gave a quick nod and a stumble before scaling down the wall and getting on a horse, riding off into the night which was- yet again- stormy.

He rode far away from the castle and into the poorer part of the kingdom where he rode onto the great stone bridge of the North West river `Ho`. He jumped off of his horse, hovering the baby over the side when he suddenly stopped; "Oh, wait, what if some one see's it and _thinks_ it _is_ a baby?! I'll have to put it in some thing…"He wrapped a cloth around the crying baby; "Oh hush! I said shut it up you stupid baby! If you cry any more some one'll hear you!! Damn it!!!"

He ruthlessly dropped it into the river to shut it up, the baby boy wrapped in a thick, , gray blanket. He rode away as quickly as possible.

Naruto floated down the cold river- since it was October and it would be cold -crying loudly. The thickness of the blanket and the way it was wrapped around him distributed what little weight he had and so floated on top of the water. At the edge of the river, a man was getting some drinking water for his goats and donkey; "There you go guys, drink up…"

He froze, hearing the noise of a baby crying; "Huh?"

He looked around for a moment, he couldn't see any one. He then went to look across the wide river, and found no one standing on the other side. His eyes eventually lay upon the floating bundle quickly disappearing down river. He gasped; "Oh my lord!"

He waded into the water in a flash, muttering to his animals; "S-stay there! I'll be back in a minute guys!"

The water soaked right through his scrappy clothing, but her didn't care about how cold or wet he was, his mind was set on getting to that baby. He swam rather awkwardly down the river, since he had never really been that good at swimming until he finally snagged the baby's blanket; "Gottchya!"

He pulled the baby in to his chest, then when he inadvertently sank since there was no more pebbles under his feet, he held it above his head.

He coughed and shivered as he stumbled onto shore back with his animals, unwrapping the baby from its wet blanket and dragging the one off of the donkey's back; "Here y-you go… you m-must be f-f-fr-freezing.."

He noticed some thing shiny on the baby; "Oh my-… what's this?"He looked at the necklace; "What a lovely piece of jewellery… and a bracelet?"He read the name; "Naruto? Well, some one must be missing you very much Naruto. You must have come from the small village up river. I'll take you tomorrow…"He hugged the still gurgling baby and patted him on the back, rocking him; "Sshh…sshh… It's okay Naruto… I'll take care of you if we can't find your parents…"

"Iruka? Iruka?"The man looked to his side where a small child wandered out of the woods in surprise; "Oh! Temari! I thought I asked you to watch over the others while I watered the animals?!"Temari said blankly, pointing behind her; "Gaara started crying again… and now Kankuro is awake and I can't get him back to sleep…"Iruka sighed; "Oh right, I'm coming… here take the rope of the donkey will you please?"

Iruka was a poorer peasant who barely made a living with farming and doing small magic tricks in nearby villages and small towns. He was a kind fellow, too kind some times and had recently found himself in the possession of orphans who were victims of the battles and abandonment and abuse. He could barely keep all of them fed but he tried his hardest to keep them all fairly educated and treated well and well mannered.

He had Temari, who was the eldest of three siblings he'd found on his travels at the side of the road begging for money. He took more than pity on them since Temari was only seven, Kankuro, her younger brother, was five and Gaara, the baby brother they'd named was barely three months old. He also had a small child who liked to sleep with the wild dogs and wolves in the woods since they had found him first but the young boy was ill so Iruka took him in, he was only about a year or so old- Kiba. Also, he'd come to father a boy who liked to eat… a lot, which grew difficult when he wanted extras. Iruka had found him eating grass once he was so hungry. Iruka figured he had some form of eating disorder and he was about a year old- Choji. There was also a boy who Iruka figured had been beaten and abused into silence then abandoned. He didn't speak at all but learned a form of fake sign language, even though he wasn't deaf and he had a strange interest in the ant hill in the woods, he didn't know how old he was because of how he acted- Shino. Iruka also saved another boy, who was actually up for sale because his parents just couldn't keep him any more- Shikamaru.

Iruka was only nineteen, but he was far more mature than any other person you would find on the planet at that time. He'd lost his parents at a young age as well, and so learned how to feed off of what little farm land his parents had once owned and the woods and the great North West river `Ho`.

Temari's eyes glued to the bundle in Iruka's which was making baby noises; "Iruka… what's that?"

Iruka looked down at the baby in his arms; "Oh this? This is Naruto…I found him in the river. Poor baby is all wet and cold. I'm going to be taking him to the village up river tomorrow, so I'll need you to watch them all again please. I won't be gone long."

Temari asked enthusiastically; "Can I see him please?!"

They'd just reached the small cabin and Iruka handed Naruto to her as he put the animals in the stable; "Sure, be sure to make him welcome…"

The next day, Minato sat staring at the large portrait of his wife in the bedroom. His eyes were red and dry and he didn't want to move. He didn't really want to breath either but he always ended up giving in and running out of breath, gasping. He slowly turned his head to glance out of the window when some body knocked on his door, it was Tsunade; "Minato… you'll be glad to hear the gynaecologist came earlier… and concluded that it was a baby girl….."Minato stayed silent and he heard Tsunade sigh; "The Uchiha lords are here… I've decided to explain the situation to them and to proceed with the arranged marriage… Minato? I need your blessing… Minato? Please, you have to grant this, I need to hear you say it…"Minato grunted, and Tsunade sighed irritated; "Minato, I cannot condole how sorry I am for your loss, do not forget, she was the queen and every body loved her. She was our queen damn it, and they'll all hear about her death this afternoon whether you tell them about it or I do. But please, pull it together… for your little girl…"

As the day passed and it grew closer to the afternoon where his wife's death was announced, he blinked at the Sakura blossom trees in the garden. He then clicked, his wife loved the Sakura trees, and they had a little girl. He stood up, walking out of his room just as Tsunade was about to knock. She stared confused at Minato as he walked like a drone down the hall; "Eh… Minato?"

She followed at a fair pace behind him. He walked into the room where Danzo stood outside; "Congratulations your majesty… It is a girl, just like I suspected-"Tsunade quietly growled at him; "Put a cork in it Danzo…"She then turned her attention back to Minato, who picked up the baby girl and looked at her; "Sakura… her name will be Sakura. In commemoration of my wife and queen Kushina."Even though she really wanted to call her baby Naruto, it was a girl, and Minato acted on his love for his wife. His heart was slowly being pieced back together.

Tsunade, warmed to the heart by the notion, then narrowed her eyes in on the baby in suspicion; `_Wait a minute… didn't I give it that necklace? And where did the bracelet go? I could have sworn I put them on the child last night…_`

Tsunade thought sceptically of the child now, she could have sworn that last night she heard Danzo, but brushed it off as just paranoia that he might come back and hover around the baby's room. She looked at Danzo who was smiling and nodding with the king as Minato stroked the baby's face.

Plus, the baby looked a little bit older- as in larger- and she could have sworn the baby's eyes were bright blue just like Minato's. Some thing wasn't right and it irritated her to no end, just what had Danzo done? Poured itching powder all over her paranoia or something?! Goddamn it was this annoying or what? Tsunade had always trusted her gut instinct, but decided not to pain Minato further in accusing the child of not even being his any more. So, she merely brushed it off.

As for Iruka, he came home that afternoon exhausted; "Nobody said they'd been missing a new born child… this poor baby…"

He rocked Naruto in his arms ad Temari shrugged and jumped off of the small wooden chair, reaching up for Naruto; "Oh well, a new baby brother! Yay!"

Iruka groaned; "Yeah… yay…"

How the hell was he going to feed 8 children _and _himself now?! He groaned loudly again and slumped down in his chair; "Oh lord, give me strength…"


	2. 2 Narutos story

HELLLLLLLOOO my readers… I'm guessing from the first chapter that you're enjoying it so far ^ ^. Hmm, apparently there was a loophole in the first chapter with the gender doctor, but oh well, as long as you're all enjoying the story X3.

**WARNING; **Oh yeah, it might contain some mild violence like in battles and some modern day swear words just in case that's too strong for any one. (cussing)

And this is a YAOI, I'm pretty sure I warned you in the first chapter, but _juuuuuuuust_ in case you managed to miss the _**big bold italic capital letters **_then allow me warn you again. And for the love of ****** if you don't like `gay` or `boys love` or `Boy X Boy` then stop reading _**NOW **_because it will end up as a SasuNaru in the end so if you can't stand the thought of it; 1; you poor soul, and 2; stop reading this -----

_**P.L.E.A.S.E**_

**DISCLAIMER;** Yeah, I am not in the possession of Naruto or any of the cast/crew but the story line is mine and belongs to me.

Now my pretties, ENJOY! XDDD

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As Naruto grew older, Iruka was finding it more and more difficult to keep food on the table let alone scraps. He began to travel further and further each time looking for new, good sources of money because he didn't was to deprive the small villages nearby of any more of _their_ money. Iruka knew they had money issues too, and so was gone for two days, four at most all of the time. He rarely came home, but when he did he was exhausted and looked terrible. He also barely had any more money or food than he would have if he stayed.

Also, the mercenaries and thieving rates and gang's had increased more and more in numbers, terrorising the outer, poorer villages for food, money, livestock and women and children for slavery and desires. This was all due to the queens death, King Minato had fallen some what in his reign of the Kingdom meaning that soldiers weren't well ordered and the thieves and mercenaries could roam the out skirts of the kingdom reeking havoc and nobody would do any thing about it.

Especially since this Danzo man had decided to `reign` the Kingdom in his own way. He had become the Kings new second hand man, meaning that whilst Minato was trying to get closer to his `daughter`, he had inadvertently given Danzo the small job of manning his soldiers in his heartbroken absence. So Danzo took it very literally and behind the Kingdoms back, he ran his minions off their feet, putting them in charge of certain soldiers. Danzo was making his own plans for the smaller villages of Konoha and nobody knew what they were yet.

When Naruto was twelve, it was evening time and Iruka was lying in bed with a terrible fever from his travels. Temari was eighteen and doing her best to take in money and food too, but with Iruka ill _she_ had to take care of him. Kankuro, who was currently fifteen, performed small puppeteering shows for the children in the villages scooping in small amounts of money now and then. The other six were all only ten or eleven so they manned the small farmland Iruka owned and fished in the river.

As Naruto was standing still, ready to snag a huge fish, Kiba came bounding through the water yelling; "I've got one I've got one!!! Look-look-look!!!"

Naruto gave a yelp as he fell forwards becoming completely soaked in the freezing water. He growled as he glared up at Kiba; "Is that it?! That's tiny! I almost had a huge one 'till you went and scared it off- Ah! There it is again! Nobody move!"

The blonde tiptoed over to where the fish had taken to swimming on the spot against the current. He licked his lips and chuckled evilly as he stretched down slowly towards the water; "Eh-he-he-he… Dinner time fishy-fishy-fishy…"He jabbed his hands through the surface of the water creating a splash that blinded him a little. He'd grabbed some thing; "Ha! See? I told you it was-!"

He pulled out a mini log and muttered dryly; "Big…?"

Kiba began to laugh, cackle actually as he stumbled around trying to keep his footing he was laughing so hard; "BUWAHAHAHAHAHAAA! N-Naruto you baka! You can't even _catch_ a fish!"

Naruto looked around; "EEEEH?! Where'd it go? Shut up Kiba! You just scared it away again!"

The blonde spotted it once more; "THERE!"

Kiba was now reduced to wheezing in the gravel at how Naruto sloshed around after the slow moving fish, chanting; "Here fishy-fishy-fishy… come here fishy! I'm not gonna' eat you…yet… Damn it stop swimming away! You're food for Iruka!"

Naruto lunged into the water grabbing the fish by the tail and wrestling with it as he floated down river; "Stupid fish! Stop struggling and you'll suffer a quick and painless death!"The blonde was so enticed with growling and biting the fish to death that he wasn't paying much attention to the fact he was _floating away_. Gaara looked up and pointed out rather dryly; "…Naruto…?"

Kiba sat up; "Huh?"He then barked; "Oh no! He's in the deep end -Naruto! NARUTO COME BACK!!!"

Shikamaru began running along the side of the river, calling out in an annoyed tone; "Naruto, swim to the side! If you don't you'll hit the rapids!"

The blonde looked up with the fish- still wriggling- in his mouth; "Uhn?"

Naruto then turned and peered at the rapids fast approaching, then paled and freaked, splashing around like a madman; "GYAAAAH! Shikamaru help me!"Kiba ran ahead, climbing up on a boulder at the side of the river and looking around; "Here, catch this branch!"He threw a branch at Naruto, hitting him smack bang in the face and causing the blonde to go half under water for a few moments. He then bobbed back up and gurgled half knocked out; "Kiba you… idiot…"

Shikamaru noted obviously; "You're supposed to _hold onto one end of the stick when you throw it_ Kiba."The dog boy blinked at his friend bobbing in the river; "Oh…"Shikamaru then growled in frustration and called down to Shino; "Get me a long branch from any where quick! That one there'll do fine!"

Naruto was barely conscious enough to float over and grab a hold of the stick; "Uuuuuuh ~"

Shikamaru, Kiba and Shino helped haul Naruto over, since Gaara was too small to help. When they had him on land, Naruto gurgled a bit and let the fish drop lifelessly from his mouth, coughing.

He was then suddenly lifted off of his feet by the scruff of his neck; "EH?!"

He looked up to a man with scars and a creepy, cruel grin; "Hey, looky here… a little bunch of homeless kids! They'll sell, or at least they _should_…"

He ran a finger quickly down Narutos left cheek; "This one has a few odd marks on his cheeks, but other than that he might be a good seller…"

Naruto growled and struggled to touch the floor; "Let go of me you creep!"

Kiba barked like a dog as he lunged and began to bite at the mans shin. There were six other men, two of which pried Kiba from their leaders leg. Naruto yelled; "We're not homeless! We have a home now let us go you bastards!"

Shikamaru whispered; "Mercenaries…"

Naruto and the rest froze. They'd heard from Kankuro when ever he came back from the village up stream about how there had been mercenaries roaming nearby recently. They had stolen and killed and raped and burnt down every place they had come across.

They all knew they were in deep trouble now. Even though there were seven of them and only six of the mercenaries…`_Wait_…` Naruto looked around; `_Where's Choji_…?`

He must have fallen behind again when they were all running after Naruto. Suddenly, the man reached down to Narutos necklace; "What's this? What a nice shiny piece of jewellery… Do we have a little thief among this lot? What a bad boy, do you know it's not good to steel? Especially something of royal stature."

Naruto snatched it back; "Just what is that supposed to mean?!"

The man then grabbed his wrist and held it up; "And a silver bracelet too? Whoa, which horde did you fall into? Tell us where you got this!"

He shook Naruto a little and the blonde yelled, in pain; "It's mine!"

The man whispered threateningly into his ear; "Tell us where you got this, and maybe we won't hurt you and your friends…"Naruto shivered horribly at that feeling of death emitting from the man. He then continued to struggle; "I told you it's mine! Let me go, it hurts!"

The man threw Naruto to the floor; "I could care less if it hurts brat, if you won't tell me, then I'll just have to _cut_ it out of you!"

Naruto was pinned to the floor as he lightly yet firmly grazed the knife over those three faint birthmarks on his cheeks, cutting into them and making them bleed a little bit; "Three left… two left…. one…"

Naruto screamed as he kicked to get free; "NO! STOP! PLEASE!! LET ME GOOOOO!!!"

As the man eventually finished the last cut, Gaara broke free from his restraint, elbowing him in the stomach before running and kicking in between the other guys legs. He toppled over Naruto, groaning loudly in pain as he held his groin; "You Demons!"

The little blonde dashed out from under him and the rest of his friends followed suit, hitting the men in the balls. Naruto snagged a rope which one of them had on a belt and commanded; "Put them together, we'll tie them up!"

Kiba kicked every man in the little circle who were still grovelling over their throbbing crotches before Naruto handed the other end of the rope to Gaara and ran around them with it, tying them up tightly. Naruto then grinned in relief and swung his arm around Gaara's neck; "Thanks Gaara…"

Choji eventually came stumbling through the woods, huffing and panting; "Wh-what…did I…. miss guys?"

Naruto glanced at the men then at their cluster of horses not too far away; "Hmm…"

The small blonde then raided their pockets and bags, Kiba asking cautiously; "Um, Naruto? What are you doing? Iruka said it's not good to steal from people."

Naruto explained as he shoved his findings into his pockets; "Ah, but they stole it first right? So technically, it's just taking it back, not stealing…"The group looked at Shikamaru, who sighed; "He is sort of right… stealing from thieves can't be all _that_ bad any way if they did it first… but there is one problem. Naruto, that stuff wasn't ours in the first place, so we can't really `take it back` if they never `took it from us` in the first place."

Naruto pouted in thought for a moment, touching his bloody face and looking at the blood before back at his new load of money and precious items; "Hmm, well then, maybe we can take just a _little_ bit and use it to get Iruka some medicine! We'll give it back to the village after that!"

Shikamaru thought it over quickly; "But if we go in there with bags of money throwing it around, won't they suspect _us_ of stealing it from else where?"Naruto sighed in frustration, concluding in hopes that Shikamaru would stop contradicting his plans; "Fine then, we'll leave it anonymously at the sheriff's door with a note! That way, we can explain to the sheriff in the note what had happened and where the bad guys are, with out him thinking we're a bunch of thieving kids who stole loads of money and made up a story just to get a reward!"Choji pointed out; "But… none of us can write-"Shino stepped forward putting his hand up, and Naruto blinked at him; "Shino, you can write? Since when?"

Shikamaru patted Shino on the shoulder; "Well, just in case, we'll ask Temari to write it."

In the small hut, they all tried to get in what had happened at the same time as Temari tended to Narutos wounds; "Alright- alright! Geez you guys! Getting yourselves messed up in mercenary business! How do you know their friends won't arrive and untie them and then come looking for you all?!"Naruto said eagerly; "That's why we need you to write that letter _now_ so we can take the horses to the nearby village and hand it in!"Temari waved her hands for a moment; "Whoa-whoa-whoa… wait a minute… Did you just say _horses_?!"

Kiba nodded; "Yup! The bad guys had some, so we guessed it would be a shame to leave them to just roam the woods. Plus, we need horses! It would make it much easier for Iruka and you and Kankuro to get places if you had a horse!"The teenage girl raised a twitching brow; "And just how do you suggest we keep those horses fed?"

Kiba mumbled a few things under his breath. Temari then sighed and put out her hands; "Oh fine then, give me some paper and something to write with…"

They all pitched in as Temari wrote, and then she asked; "Okay… Yours Sincerely…~"

It went quiet and Choji asked; "Well?"

Temari stated; "_Well_ we can't just say Yours Sincerely `a bunch of kids in the woods` now can we?!"Kiba asked out loud; "Then who are we going to say the letters from? They won't just read a random letter about seven guys tied up in the woods from an anonymous person. They might think it's just a prank or a trap or some thing."

Gaara murmured; "Why don't we come up with just one name… a fake name to call ourselves by."Temari warned dryly; "You better not be thinking about making a habit out of this boys… because I swear if Iruka found out he would-"Naruto spoke, cutting her off; "The Konoha Bandits…"Shikamaru pointed out; "Eh… Naruto, we're not bandits, we don't steal or kill any one…"

Naruto stood upon the small wooden table and put his hands high above his head; "But think about it! Ever since the queen died, the kingdom of Konoha has been a mess all on it's own. Sure the fighting might have stopped between Konoha and Uchiha, but we are in our own turmoil now! We need some one else to help out with all this mess, and _I_ say _I want to help_! So who's with me?!"

Temari sighed as the majority one; "You _are_ going to make a habit out of this… *sigh*… How on earth am I going to keep this all a secret from Iruka? How are _you_ going to pull this off with out Iruka finding out?"Naruto shrugged; "It's simple… We'll simply say we've found a job and that we can help bring in money too!"

Temari scorned; "But you're too young! Way too young to be taking on rapists and murderers and thieves! Naruto, your cute little face will be the perfect target for creepy paedophiles! I will _not_ let _any_ of you go through with this! Not while Iruka is ill and you're all alone!"

Naruto and the group looked at each other when Naruto went into his small pouch on his belt and pulled out a few gold coins; "But… we'll be able to pay to take care of Iruka…"

The teen went silent. She was contemplating, weighing up letting the children risk their lives for all that Iruka has done for them. She groaned, holding her head; "Oh fine. But I don't know how the hell you'll all do this with out getting caught or killed… You'll need weapons or something."

Naruto grinned, holding his arm up as if showing muscles; "No worries Temari Nee-san! We're ten! We're practically adults in boy years!"

She folded up the letter and tied it to the lump of bags that they had taken from the mercenaries; "Alright, we'll deliver them right away. But you all have to stay here, I'll send Kankuro to drop it off secretly at the Sheriffs door… and in the mourning you can all go and get the medicine from the village doctor. Don't pay him too handsomely though, else he might get suspicious about where a group of kids got so much money from…"

Gaara asked; "Will you not be coming with us…?"Temari hefted up the bags and put them over her shoulder; "Me? Of course I will. I'll leave Kankuro here to take care of Iruka for us while we're out. I just have something to do while we're there. I'll meet you at the well as soon as you've got the medicine after wards… understood? For now, just get some sleep…"

In the mourning, Naruto was fluffing Iruka's pillow a little when the man woke; "Naruto? What are you doing?"Naruto smiled at him; "Oh, you're awake… I'm just fluffing your pillow. And hey, Temari is taking us all into town today so that you can get some piece and quiet. But don't worry, Kankuro is staying here so he'll check up on you once in a while okay? Just get some more sleep neh?"Iruka smiled warmly and held Narutos hand, his smile dropping as he noticed; "Naruto… what happened to your face?"

Naruto touched his own cheeks, almost forgetting about the cuts; "Oh…uh- I caught a _big_ fish yesterday! But… there was this _really_ spiky bush and when the fish tried to jump out of my hands it fell in the bush and I fell in after it…"

Iruka squinted; "But… they're in the exact same places as your old birth marks Naruto. Did some body hurt you?"

Naruto pouted, frowning; "I said I fell in a bush, why won't you believe me? I don't know how they got in the same places as my birth marks. Now go to sleep, we'll be back by this afternoon."

They rode into the small village on the mercenaries horses they'd purposely adopted, noticing the buzz going around. They were all talking about what the Sheriff had taken back early in the mourning- which was a group of mercenaries tied up in the woods- and the random donation of goods left at the Sheriffs door. The group of children couldn't help but grin and smirk and giggle about what commotion they'd created in the small village.

They piled into the pharmacy, Shikamaru handing over the small bag of coins; "Can we get some medicine for a really bad fever please?"The doctor smiled in recognition; "Ah, Iruka's kids! Well, lets see what I have for you… Oh, here we go, but lads, this is too much money! Where did you get all of this?"Naruto jumped in, he was a good liar when he was on a roll; "Uh, Iruka just came back from a long four day trip. He'd managed to gather up some money from some good quality……carrots! And, on his way back, he helped this old lady who actually turned out to be rich and so she paid him for his kindness…"The doctor smiled; "Well, at least some one was kind enough to do so. Iruka is a good man, I hope he gets well soon…"

Shikamaru muttered to him; "Naruto… isn't that out of a story?"Naruto shrugged.

The group then made their way to the well and stood there, waiting. Shikamaru looked around; "Hey, isn't that Temari over there?"

They all peered over to the black smiths where Temari's very distinct hair stood out in the dark room. Choji called out; "Temari Nee-san! What are you doing in there?"Naruto ran over and looked inside the smoky, open planned black smiths; "Hey! Look at all the cool tools in here guys!"There were mainly hammers and random metal rods and the odd dagger. Temari put her hand out and introduced the black smith; "This is Asuma-san, he's a really good black smith. He's not made weapons in a long time, and since he owes Iruka and me a favour he said he'd be happy to help."

Shikamaru asked, raising a brow; "Help? Weapons? Just what are you saying Temari Nee-san?"

Asuma spoke in a hushed voice; "There aren't a lot of soldiers on the outskirts of Konoha any more because of the agreement to stop the battles between Konoha and Uchiha. So I think it'll be a good thing if we have a band of strapping young bandits to keep our area safe…"He winked at them and Kiba gasped; "Temari-Nee! You told him about _The Konoha Bandits_?!"

Shikamaru scratched his chin a little; "You know… I still don't think that names catching on…"Naruto huffed, folding his arms; "Just give it time! It should catch on eventually…"Shikamaru asked; "When? Fifty years? Sorry but I don't think I'll be running around in the woods taking down mercenaries by then…"

Naruto growled; "If I had half the mind to take you down Shikamaru-"Temari stepped in; "Now-now lads, don't fight over stupid things like that. Just tell Asuma-san what weapon would suit you and he'll make it. It'll take some time though…"She sighed, rubbing her temples; "I still don't know why the hell I'm letting you do this…You're too young and Iruka would kill me if he found out I even _knew_ what you were doing let alone gave you _weapons_ to do so!"Naruto wafted a limp hand at her; "Neh-neh, we're not children, so don't treat us like we're going to come crying to you after we've scraped our knees or any thing…"

So, as the day stretched on, Asuma had created all six weapons. Five of which had swords, but Naruto had a long very strong metal pole as well and Choji had an axe. Each sword handle had beautifully carved vines and leaves on them in brass and steel. Each sword was light but strong and long enough for a child or an adult to wield.

The blonde stared at his shiny steel sword; "Neh-neh! Asuma-San! Could you write my name on this please?"

Asuma stared at the blonde wide eyed; "Your name? That's really…um…"He looked at Temari, who blushed with embarrassment; "Naruto, he made you your weapons, this should be enough…I don't wish to have to owe money after this was a favour and all."She went to herd them out the back door; "Thank you for your time Asuma-san-…"The Blacksmith shook his head; "No-no wait… It's fine. It's just that, it has been a while since I have actually etched some thing into one of my swords…"

He grinned and coaxed Naruto back; "So, your name huh kid? Well, how do ya' spell it for a start?"

Naruto pulled up his bracelet; "Here, just copy this…"

Asuma took the silver chain and froze for a moment, staring at it. Naruto looked at him oddly; "Asuma-san? Asuma-san… can you not read it?"

Asuma shook his head and smiled; "Oh yeah, I can read it. I was just memorising it so I could give it back. I don't want to get it too dirty after all, since it is a nice piece of work. Here you go…"Naruto shrugged; "Okay, yeah it is really nice isn't it? I've had it since I was a baby…"

Asuma took the sword and turned around, taking a chisel and a hammer; "Any body else after?"

He sighed, he didn't even need to turn around to know they all had their hands up.

Asuma remembered that bracelet fondly. He was secretly one of the best Silversmith's in the Konoha Kingdom, the only one who's work of art were used by the Royals. He remembered that very night twelve years ago when a messenger was sent for the Kings and Queens new born baby. They wanted to call him Naruto. But it ended up being a girl and they called her Sakura. It was too much of a coincidence that this poor kid had a bracelet he mad ever since he was a baby. He thought maybe the messenger got mugged on the way back with the bracelet, but the boy looked strikingly like the king himself.

That night when they were home, Naruto pulled his sword out of its leather sheath and shone it against the moonlight. His name neatly and beautifully carved was like a silhouette stamped on the steel since it didn't shine all too much. The blondes lips quirked up in a smile of appreciation and amazement at the work of art before him which was easily and safely made in one day.

He held his arm out and swayed the sword a little bit, the balance was perfect for Naruto and he stood up, jabbing the sword out a few times in a practice fight. He then ran a finger down his own etches he now had on his cheeks and compared them to the ones of his name on the sword. He couldn't stand the thought of this happening to any one else. He remembered how scary it was and for Christ Sake it was only yesterday. He shuddered, what a creep, trapping children like that, torturing them like that. Hopefully scarring children with three marks each on their cheeks wasn't a trade mark of his, because Naruto swore he would protect any one else from the mercenaries roaming Konoha.

He and his group- which still hadn't really come up with a name -continued to protect their small area, gathering more and more people who felt the same way about protecting the ones they loved.


	3. 3 Little Sasuke

Hello lovely readers XD! Might I just say, Thank you all SOOOO much for faving and alerting and commenting! You're all the best /

So hey, next chapter! A little bit about Sasukes childhood in this one. Hope you're all enjoying it so far X3 I'm working hard on it just for you!

**WARNING;** Okay, first off this is a YAOI, come on people! The first TWO FRICKIN' chapters had Yaoi warnings in them! READ IT AND GET THE HINT ALREADY IF YOU DON'T LIKE DON'T READ! Thank you ^ ^

Oh yeah, and there is some cussing and mild violence just in case nobody likes it too strong.

**DISCLAIMER;** I do NOT own any Naruto characters… but I DO own the story line.

And for now… ENJOY MY PRETTIES XDDD

As for Sasuke, he grew up in pampered, prose conditions. His elder brother, Itatchi Uchiha, was raised with the intentions of one day becoming the king of the Uchiha kingdom while Sasuke was born solely for the purpose for the fact that they just had another child. He then had a great amount of importance thrust upon him a few weeks before he was born, he was to be the bridge of peace between the Uchiha and Konoha kingdoms.

He was to be wedded to Konoha's royally first born child and become the king of Konoha, since his brother was to rule the Uchiha kingdom.

At the age of twelve, Sasuke was informed fully of his status. Of course, he knew that he was in an arranged marriage all his life, but only now was he told that he was to be `the bridge of peace` or so to speak.

He sat before his father and mother, his father being very strict and his mother acting like a cushion as usual; "Sasuke, at the age of seventeen you are to be wedded to the princess of Konoha. Do not disgrace our kingdom, this is a very important marriage-"His wife cut in; "Ever since Queen Kushina passed away, it has been an even more delicate situation, since it was her wish that this marriage take place in the first place to end the wars between our two kingdoms…"

Sasuke nodded and his father continued, clearing his throat; "Ah, yes, a very delicate and important marriage! I can only assume that you are fully aware of how to respond to soon becoming a king of a neighbouring country! Do not disappoint me… Sasuke…"

The ravenette nodded and then his father dismissed him. Kakashi, his caretaker and tutor of sorts, waited causally outside for the prince. When Sasuke wandered out, Kakashi muffled out from under his mask; "I assume you are now fully aware of the situation Prince Sasuke?"The prince nodded, frustratingly; "Not only am I under the pressure of having to keep my fathers respect for me, but now to be the king of a neighbouring kingdom? Why was _I _chosen for this? Father could have easily given Itatchi to Konoha and ruled for many more years and as the second son, _I_ would take over from him for the _Uchiha_ kingdom, not Konoha."

Kakashi nodded as he followed the young princes' fast steps; "Well yes, I can see how you are distressed your highness, although… that is rather selfish thinking is it not? I mean, with all do respect, the highest respect you could possibly gain from your father is following through with his every wish. Not trying to be like Prince Itatchi, for he is himself, we don't need two of prince Itatchi. Your father and mother and your whole _kingdom_ needs you to be prince Sasuke! The future King of Konoha with a beautiful queen at your side ruling peacefully…"

Sasuke mentioned; "I do not even _know_ this princess Sakura…"Kakashi stated; "Well, usually in arranged marriages, you don't meet your future spouse until you are to be wedded…"The young prince sighed as he sat at the edge of the large garden pond; "But… what if I _don't_ _love_ her?"Kakashi couldn't help but chuckled as he said; "Sasuke, not all arranged marriages are happy… as long as you rule a strong, thriving kingdom, that's usually all that your people will only expect of you…"The caretaker had hidden a trick question in there some where, wondering if Sasuke would pass or just agree like a _good little prince_.

"Won't a kingdom just crumble apart under a King and Queen who don't truly love each other? I see how mother and father look at each other, they love each other… and our kingdom is strong and thriving, I can only imagine the devastated country who is ruled under a poor love between their King and Queen…"

Kakashi smiled, Sasuke passed. The little prince wasn't going to be like Itatchi, doing what ever he was told no matter how miserable he was while doing it.

The caretaker grinned under his mask and patted the prince on the back; "Well, you have to meet her first am I right? I'm sure you could learn to love her…" Kakashi muttered under his breath; "Even if she _is_ a little bitch…"Sasuke raised a brow at him; "Pardon?"He shook his head; "Nothing, come on then, time for sparring practice. A good King is always good with his sword!"The ravenette rolled his eyes, he had heard that so many times over and over again.

When he was of the age of seventeen, Sasuke was called before his father and his mother yet again. He entered the ridiculously long and echoing hall, marching down in his royal clothing and cape with the Uchiha kingdom crest on it. Kneeling before them, his father spoke up; "Sasuke, your birthday was celebrated yesterday and you are now of age to be married to your future Queen. I have sent for a company of thirty to escort you to the palace of Konoha…"

Sasuke frowned, questioning; "Father, why would I need to be escorted by such a number of soldiers?"His mother explained; "Sasuke, growing up in the palace… I'm well aware you might not be knowledgeable of the outside world. But there are thieves and bandits and mercenaries who will kill for money…"Sasuke thought impatiently to himself; `_Yes mother… I DO know that…_`

She continued; "And you are also a prince! None other than of the Uchiha kingdom! If you were kidnapped and ransomed for the kingdom… your father, brother and myself would not be able to live with ourselves!"

Sasuke thought dryly; `_Couldn't live with yourselves knowing that I was kidnapped and probably dead? Or that you would be challenged with the decision of either me or your precious kingdom?_`

But on the outside, Sasuke nodded; "I understand… mother. Although, even with a company of thirty men, I would be very capable to defending myself…"He glanced up at his father, and Kakashi who was stood behind and to the side of him; "- I _was_ taught by the best…"

Kakashi and his father both smiled appreciatively before his father waved his hand; "Now, I give you the best of wishes on your journey to Konoha. We will be arriving shortly after in about two weeks so that you may bond with your future Queen. Go now, leave for Konoha…"Sasuke nodded and got up, feeling very self-conscious as his sword clanked off of his metal armour.

Currently, in Konoha. Naruto and Kiba were travelling to the small village upstream for a few food supplies, they still had the horses from the bandits all those years ago. Kiba discussed quietly with the blonde; "-We also managed to put up those pikes on the other side of the ditch… well, we're still kinda' tying the last few in place because Choji went and `_tried them out_`… the moron sent in rolling down the hill!"

Naruto laughed loudly; "Are you serious? I was wondering why Choji looked so glum…"Kiba sniffed the wind and frowned; "Can you smell that?"Naruto looked around then sniffed for himself; "Yeah… it smells like-"They both gave each other a pale glance, Naruto them yelled; "YAH!" Urging his horse faster along the skinny road. Kiba was close behind.

When they came into view of the clearing the village was in, Naruto jumped off of his horse, running along the road to the burning village. He grabbed the first person he found running towards him; "What happened?"The woman sobbed; "The soldiers! They came in and demanded we leave yesterday! They warned they would come back today and burn us out and they did!"Naruto growled; "Bastards!"Kiba took the woman to the side and interrogated her more thoroughly.

Narutos face grew pained and angered. All throughout the kingdoms small villages on the outskirts not only were there more mercenaries and thieves… but the soldiers of Konoha had been exterminating any they came across. Threatening that theywould kill people if they didn't leave and find some where else to go.

It wasn't just the fact that their own soldiers were now terrorising them with the mercenaries and thieves, but also the fact that he didn't even know why! Was the kingdom making cut backs on some thing? Was the king planning on building a border and needed to evacuate the villagers? No, that couldn't be it, the `kind King` of Konoha… `the sun` of Konoha… wouldn't possibly resort to _burning_ out his beloved villagers. Although, there had been rumours there had been a substantial rise in people moving to the inner cities.

The blonde growled, clenching his fists. Kiba glanced up and gasped; "Naruto! Don't-!"

He was a little too late when he reached out to grab the blonde, for Naruto had broke into a run and threw himself into the first soldier he saw, burning out a home. The blonde tackled him to the floor, pounding him over and over and over again in the upper body as the soldier fought with him. More soldiers ran over, pulling Naruto off of their comrade. Although, Naruto turned on them, knocking each and every soldier that came at him out cold with one single left hook to the face.

Kiba eventually managed to restrain the blonde just as he grabbed for the hilt of his sword; "Naruto!" Kiba hissed into his ear; "Don't! You'll just be arrested!"Naruto was thrashing to get free; "Just what do you suggest I _do _then KIBA? Just sit around and _watch_ these people's homes be burnt to the ground? Well I won't do that-!"Kiba pulled him up straight; "Listen to me Naruto! We'll help as many people as possible, but we can't knock out any more soldiers! It's bad enough we have them after us as _the Konoha Bandits_!"

Naruto took about fifty deep breaths before shuddering and pulling away from Kiba; "Fine…"

Naruto and his clique of _Konoha Bandits_ kindly ambushed and robbed any rich looking people who happened to pass through their forest. Naruto had come to have more than just his original five friends as this group. Many men who had also had their villages burned down or were determined to provide food on the tables of their families had joined Naruto. Although, nobody really knew who the leader was to begin with, they all just assumed Naruto was and so the blonde was soon nominated by his fellow men as their leader.

Three days earlier…A carriage with three rich women in it and two male riders were passing under Kiba, who was watching intently for worthy victims to arrive. He grinned and cackled silently, rubbing his hands together and waving around a bright red flag as the signal to `bait`.

Inside the carriage, the women all bordly fanned themselves with their different coloured fans. Suddenly, there was a thudding noise on the roof, causing the carriage to wobble tremendously. The women all jumped in fright.

Outside, Naruto swung out of the trees with a couple of other men; all wearing masks.

Neji, one of the male riders, swore; "Damn! Thieves!"Naruto stood on top of the carriage, Choji behind him correcting them; "We're _The Konoha Bandits_! No thieves are we!"Naruto murmured to him; "Is it really necessary to talk like that?"The larger teen asked innocently; "What…? I thought it was…"The blond shrugged and pulled out his sword, pointing it towards the two men; "Allow us to rob you of as much as we can carry and I will assure you safe passage from here on and no harm will be done to you! What do ya' say?"

The two men looked at each other as if they were dumbfound, the one with extremely bushy eyebrows stating dryly; "Well, they sure are _polite_ thieves…"

The blonde almost toppled over before growling; "We said we're _The Konoha Bandits_ damn it! Not stupid thieves!"

Choji scratched under his mask; "I thought they were the same thing…"

Naruto thanked him on the head with his sword; "'Course not!"Neji scowled; "They are the same thing, you just threatened us with injury if we did not give in peacefully."Naruto rolled his head, his sword swinging loosely as he exclaimed; "Well we don't kill any one. And any way, thieves steal selfishly for themselves to buy beer and shit, we're more of a…. profitable charity."

Neji flinched as Kiba slid his dagger along his throat; "Now hand over all that we can carry."

Neji swung around; "Never!"Queue the fighting, Kiba yelped as he fell backwards and grimaced under his mask as Neji pinned him; "Whoa! He's a handful! Don't just stand there, help me!"The bushy browed man on his horse perked up; "Of course!"He jumped out of his saddle and drew his sword. Before he reached the two, Neji scolded him; "You are _my _associate you dim-witted fool! You're not to help them! Assist me and stop them Lee!"

Lee blinked; "Oh, right you are!"

He spun to the carriage; "Prepare youthful thieves! Huh?"

Naruto tilted his mask at a pale skinned dark haired beauty; "Fine beauties such as yourselves shouldn't be wearing useless décor. May I?"

He swooned all four women and slipped all of their jewellery off before kissing each and every hand; "Much appreciated your lovely ladies."

Lee was too late and they were all off into the trees before he hand a chance. Neji asked irritated; "Well-?"Kiba knocked him in the head and scuttled out from under his sword, also disappearing into the trees. Neji swore and held his head before rushing to the carriage; "Lady Hinata, Lady Ten-ten, Lady Ino… are you all unharmed?"

He swung the door open and found three blushing faces. All women had lost their fine decorations and Lee got a smack for it.

When the carriage reached the palace, the large gates creaked open and the carriage was allowed to pass. Princess Sakura gasped gleefully out of a window at the approaching carriage; "Wonderful! They have arrived!"

The king smiled weakly as Sakura went to race out of the door; "Darling… I think it would be best for you to wait inside-"

She burst into a rage, breaking things; "You never let me have anything! You never want me to be happy! Why won't you let me do anything? I hate you! You are a useless father and a terrible king now move!"

King Minato had a huge pink pillow thrown in his face while his teenage daughter raced from her room.

Danzo randomly appeared from the shadows; "You'll have to forgive the princess. She Is merely being affected by this summer heat. It is rather overwhelming don't you think? Here, let me escort you back to your room…"

In all of thirty seconds, King Minato had been told he was hated and a terrible king by his daughter, told he had heat exhaustion, and rushed back to his dark lonesome room. Danzo watched through shaded eyes as Princess Sakura raced towards the three women exiting the carriage.

The pink princess squealed as she jumped a smaller pale teen; "You took forever to get here Lady Hinata!"

Lady Hinata blushed and stumbled. Lady Ten-ten emerged and opened her arms towards Sakura; "Your highness! You've grown so womanly and beautiful. I'll tell you, if I was in a beauty contest with you I just might have some competition…"Sakura smiled up at the older teen; "Good day Lady Ten-ten. I'm so glad you could make it!"

Ino snorted as she was aided from the carriage, demanding instant shade; "I would have no competition in a beauty contest."

Sakura raised a brow, her veins pulsing; "Oh… Lady Ino… how nice of you to come."

The blonde gave a smile; "Well what are you waiting for? Give me a hug."Sakura hugged her and looped her arm through Ino's; "I have so much to tell all of you! Prince Sasuke is coming in four days! Then, after two weeks we're having the marriage!"

When they walked into the large marble foyer, Ten-ten questioned; "If you don't mind me asking… where is King Minato…?"Sakura rolled her eyes; "All he does is sulk in his chamber all the time. His skin is so pale and to be frank he is quite the eye sore."

Danzo emerged from the shadows once more; "Princess Sakura, that is no way to talk of the king…"

He gave three short bows; "Your ladyships…"

Sakura asked impatiently; "Is my chamber suitable yet?"

The pale man nodded and she squealed and pulled at the other teens; "C'mon! I have so much- just so much to talk about!"

As they clacked up the stair case Danzo turned to see two young men enter; "May I help you?"

The young man with terribly long hair raised a bow at Danzo before straightening up and dipping his head towards Danzo; "Yes. I am Master Neji, Lady Hinata's guard and cousin. This here is Sir Lee, son of General Guy and my subordinate. We have some issues to discuss with the king."

Danzo bowed to Lee and as the bushy browed man bowed to him, he questioned; "What sort of issues…?"Neji looked around for a moment before making eye contact again; "If it isn't rude of me to say so, I would very much like to discuss it with the _king_."

Something flashed in Danzo's eyes but Neji couldn't quite catch it before he covered it up with a smile; "I am terribly sorry but King Minato is not terribly well, any stressing issues may affect his condition."

Danzo motioned towards a room; "Although, as much as I am the kings personal doctor, I am his closest associate and will be his words and opinions on any such issues. This way if you please."

Neji nodded and followed but whispered to Lee when Danzo's back was turned; "Be cautious, something about this man…isn't as clean as it seems."

Lee nodded and walked even more up straight.

Once in the room and seated, Neji began; "We are most unfortunate to report the presence of… thieves in Konoha forest."

Donzo looked surprised; "Thieves…?"

Lee chipped in very absent of his manners; "Well, they said they were actually bandits-"

Neji stomped silently on his foot and Lee whimpered and zipped his lips. Neji stated; "They drew their swords and took the precious jewels of the ladies. We were promised clear passage and protection."

Danzo sighed; "I cannot convey how truly sorry I am. You seem to have run into those who call themselves _the Konoha Bandits_. Yes, they seem to be a prevailing problem we have had for years. It seems as though we may arrest many of the group the ring leader seems evasive enough to have avoided us for years. This is no way an excuse, but they have not been known to kill any one they rob."

Neji let a frown slide; "As harmless as they appear to be, they still robbed us and drew blades. They are good fighters… the one who attacked me certainly knew his weapon well enough to escape me."

Lee chipped in again; "And nobody escapes Sir Neji without harm!"

Neji decided not to punish Lee for talking because his words were some what of a compliment; "So you see… If Prince Uchiha Sasuke was to be blatantly ambushed by them, wouldn't that put one down on Konoha…?"

Daonzo's eyes narrowed considerably; "Although, as you may have noticed, Konoha Forest is a considerably enormous ring of trees and valleys which surround our kingdom. It is very difficult to imagine where they would strike next…"

Neji raised a brow; "I have heard they appear frequently on the main roads…"

Danzo called a servant forward who lay out a map on the table before them; "I see. If you would… could you please describe the location in which you were robbed…?"Neji scanned the map before pointing, announcing; "Along this stretch of road. If you don't mind me saying… you seem to have noted many villages around this area. It would seem that this is a very regular occurrence… is it not…?"

Another flash of the same thing from earlier but Neji just couldn't quite catch it.

Danzo looked closely at the map then told the servant to take it away; "Yes… well as I said. It's a big woodland. Also, there are many operating in this thriving thieves business. If I do say you came out with the lucky ones, no mercenaries or serious thieves. Just a group of children really."

Neji went to say something again but was cut off; "Now if you please… follow this kind man to your quarters…"

Once in their chambers, Neji began; "Lee… I don't like the looks of this man…"

Lee scratched his knee after he removed his boot; "I get that feeling too. Isn't it weird though?"

Neji questioned; "What?"

Lee concentrated on emptying his boots of stones and gravel as he said; "Don't Pprincess Sakura and Danzo appear to have similar facial features…?"Neji went quiet for a moment, thought about it, then hit him on the head; "Only you would make up such trivial connections. Keep your mouth shut, remember?"


End file.
